Tip-off: Thursday, 9:30 p.m. ET
Line: Pick, Total: 208.5

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to continue playing at a torrid pace when they travel to Texas and take on the San Antonio Spurs, winners of their past six games, on Thursday night.

The Cavs have put a poor start to the season behind them as they come into this contest with a SU win in eight of their past 11 contests since the All-Star break. In that time they are a solid 7-4 ATS and won by double digits in six of the games; including taking three of them by at least 30 points. The latest Cleveland victory came on Tuesday night when they traveled to Dallas as 4-point favorites and took a landslide win by a score of 127-94. The Cavs offense hit 44-of-87 field-goal attempts (51% FG), including 15-of-32 from long range (47% 3PM), and grabbed 50 rebounds in the winning effort; eight more than their opponent. The Spurs are in the midst of one of their best stretches on the year and have won in each of the past six games SU (5-1 ATS) as they defeat their opponents by an average of 15.8 PPG. The offense hit triple-digits in each of the contests as they averaged 112.2 PPG and held opponents under 100 points three times. The Raptors were the most recent victims of San Antonio’s strong play when they fell 117-107 as the Spurs were giving seven points at home this past Tuesday night. Both SF Kawhi Leonard and PF Tim Duncan had double-doubles in the victory as the team hit an incredible 11-of-18 three-pointers (61% 3PM) in the process. Cleveland has not fared well when away from home, playing to a 17-16 SU record (14-19 ATS) in road games as they face a San Antonio Crew which is 24-7 SU (13-16-2 ATS) in front of its hometown faithful. The Spurs were able to grab the win in the first game between these clubs on the season as they traveled to Cleveland while getting 1.5 points and left with a 92-90 victory. It was a very evenly matched contest, but San Antonio’s shooting (47% FG) is what got them the win. It was amazingly the Spurs’ 10th SU win in a row against the Cavs as they are 7-2-1 ATS in that time. Trends show that Cleveland is 86-59 ATS (59%) after a game where it made 12 or more three-pointers since 1996 as San Antonio is 16-4 ATS in March games over the past two seasons. The injury report continues to have SF Shawn Marion (Hip) listed as questionable and C Anderson Varejao (Achilles) out for the season on the Cavaliers side of the ball as the Spurs have PF Tim Duncan (Elbow) as probable and SG Manu Ginobili (Illness) listed as questionable.

Can the Spurs stay hot with a win over the Cavaliers Thursday? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a strong 55% ATS record (170-139-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a huge 63% ATS (96-57) record since Feb. 1, led by StatFox Brian who has a stellar 62% ATS (31-19) mark in Best Bets since Dec. 31, and is now 57% ATS (55-41) in season Best Bets. StatFox Scott is also sizzling with a 63% ATS record (36-21) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 57% ATS (55-42) for the season. StatFox Gary is also hot with a 61% ATS (31-20) mark in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and is 57% ATS (56-42) this season. StatFox Zach is a robust 66% ATS (33-17) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 2, while StatFox Dave is a red-hot 69% ATS (22-10) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 28.

The Cavs offense continues to improve as the season progresses and they are currently putting up 102.9 PPG (7th in league) on 45.6% shooting (10th in league). The defense has also done their part, giving up 98.4 PPG on the year (11th in league) with opponents making 45.1% of their shots. SF LeBron James (26.0 PPG, 7.3 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG) is coming off one of his most efficient efforts of the year in the win over Dallas on Tuesday night, going for 27 point on 10-of-14 shooting as he added eight assists, seven rebounds, a block and a steal. He did struggle in the one game against the Spurs, though; making just 6-of-17 shots (35% FG) for 15 points with nine assists and six rebounds. PG Kyrie Irving (21.4 PPG, 5.4 APG, 1.5 SPG) has hit 28-of-30 free throws (93% FT) over the past five games but is scoring an underwhelming 18.8 PPG behind a poor effort in Phoenix where he scored a mere eight points with three assists. In his last game against San Antonio he was able to score 20 points to go along with four rebounds and three steals. PF Kevin Love (17.0 PPG, 10.2 RPG) has three double-doubles in the past four games and is coming off a tremendous performance (21 points, 14 rebounds) in the manhandling of the Mavericks. He also recorded a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) when last matched up with the Spurs but struggled with his shot (4-for-12).

The Spurs have managed to have another successful season on the offensive end and are netting 101.6 PPG (11th in league) as they make 45.7% of their shots (9th in league). The defense has also really impressed, allowing opponents to score just 97.4 PPG (8th in league) behind 44.4% shooting (12th in league). SF Kawhi Leonard (15.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.2 SPG) has rattled off five straight 20+ point games in which he has averaged 22.4 PPG (55% FG), 8.4 RPG, 3.0 APG and 1.4 BPG. His 4-of-14 shooting wasn’t too impressive in the first win over Cleveland, but he did get a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and added four steals. PG Tony Parker (14.7 PPG, 4.9 APG) has been phenomenal with his scoring recently and has netted 24.5 PPG with 1.8 SPG over the last four contests. He was barely a factor against the Cavs earlier in the year with eight points and three assists. PF Tim Duncan (14.1 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.8 BPG) is coming off a nice double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds) but has really seen his production dip of late with 8.2 PPG and 8.0 RPG over the past five games. His showing (19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals) in Cleveland at the start of the year was the main factor in his club earning a win.